The Inner Critic - Flipbook - Page 9
T HE I NNER C RITIC
ACTIVATES OUR INNER THREAT SYSTEM
We all evolved with a fully functioning safety system designed to keep us safe. Operating from the
oldest part of the brain, it is this system which puts us into Fight, Flight, Freeze or Fold when we feel
threatened. This system is constantly under the radar checking for ‘Am I Safe’.
This system was, and still is, essential to us. However, many of the evolutionary threats it was
protecting us from have now disappeared, thankfully. Instead today’s threats are markedly dierent anything from the person who wants to verbally bawl us out, to public shaming on social media, to the
loss of a job or personal freedom etc.
These forms of ‘lion’ can threaten the internal concept of self.
You might have had the experience of being in a meeting, being asked a question and freezing …. And
then a voice shows up to tell you how well you did not do.
Imagine that you have just sent an email that would have benetted from a 24 hour cooling o period,
or you have just posted on social media something that you now regret.
What voice do you hear internally?
For some people, hearing an Internal Critic can be a powerful driving force towards success. We’ve all
met people who are able to forge ahead regardless of any critical voices. Seemingly they have the
power to push on, ignoring the noisy critic entirely. The driving force is often a fear associated with
humiliation and shame, and so they push on regardless, swallowing down hard on feelings.
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